British MP Faces Jail Sentence

This Would Never Happen in Sweden - Why Not?

Yesterday, serving MP and ex-Cabinet minister Chris Huhne pleaded guilty to "perverting the course of justice". What did he do? Fiddle his expenses? Lie about a call girl? No, he did something that 70% of Swedish drivers who are stopped for Sweden do every year.

He lied about who was at the wheel of the car when the vehicle was clocked for speeding. Huhne asked his wife to take the fall, about SEK1200 and 3 points on his license.

I've been to Swedish dinner parties where people actually boast about avoiding penalty sentences for speeding in Sweden. In fact this is so common that apparently only 30% of speeding offenses ever get enforced. All you have to do is deny that you were at the wheel. If photographic evidence suggests otherwise, the chances are that the authorities will never push the matter. For company or leased cars, the lease manager just says that he keeps no log on who was driving (can you imagine an operations manager of an airline pleading the same defense).

What's the end game? Most Swedes drive as if they're unaccountable to other road users. Rising fatalities.

I guess all the Swedish drivers you speak of must hope they don't have an estranged wife (as Huhne did) who ‘blows the whistle’ on these ‘lies’.

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Most Swedes drive as if they're unaccountable to other road users. Rising fatalities.

…wouldn’t disagree with you here. RTA stats are generally favourable to Sweden compared to other countries. But I reckon its more complex than that. Some studies have shown that road traffic congestion comes into the equation and increases the incidence of RTAs (road traffic congestion not being quite as bad in Sweden as, say, the UK or US)

Yesterday, serving MP and ex-Cabinet minister Chris Huhne pleaded guilty to "perverting the course of justice". What did he do? Fiddle his expenses? Lie about a call
... (show full quote)

Yesterday, serving MP and ex-Cabinet minister Chris Huhne pleaded guilty to "perverting the course of justice". What did he do? Fiddle his expenses? Lie about a call girl? No, he did something that 70% of Swedish drivers who are stopped for Sweden do every year.

He lied about who was at the wheel of the car when the vehicle was clocked for speeding.
... (hide full quote)

Not giving out who was the driver of your vehicle is not a crime in Sweden though.

Also your number about 70% is way off. 70% off all vehicles that are noted as speeding past a camera are simply not photographed since the police don't have time to process the data.

My contention is that in recent years, Sweden's traffic fatalities (and Denmark's) are on the increase.

That's racist. Just kidding. But if different countries have different driving cultures, so to speak, then it seems logical that some different accident patterns could present themselves as different populations increasingly drive in what may also be a new terrain.

Also--it seems morbid to ask, but how are suicides being classified? Are people driving into the water, what? Traffic fatality implies the car is out in the world somewhere, right?

It is no surprise that fatalities have decreased over the decades, but along with the advent of such technologies also comes faster and more powerful cars capable of higher speeds.

I have to say that compared to the UK I find Swedish drivers to be more competent on the roads... far less polite, but more competent. There does seem however to be a certain complacency when it comes to phone usage whilst driving. Wonder if there is a connection there with the recent increase?

You know what they say " It's not the 'fart' that kills you... its the 'smäll' "

Gagitry then - phone calls, texting, ipods, tvs even, etc. I also have a very faint memory of someone once mentioning some problems with all the traffic barriers / guard rails--that they're actually creating some problems. Sorry, can't recall more than that.

I've seen stuff in the press about the central barriers, that are tensioned steel cable are especially bad if a biker comes off, when compared to the deeper corrugated metal ones, but for that to hurt you need to have already crashed, so they aren't the cause of accidents.

Years ago it wasn't phones, but it was loose kids and pets, chain smoking and drinking behind the wheel. Or in the days of old when mixing cross ply and radial tyres was warned about with special TV adverts. Perhaps even a greater number of front wheel drive cars have improved safety?

With greater statistics, roads that were accident black spots, have improved sight lines, been straightened out and better road surfaces, the list is endless really.